


dead man's party

by monstermash



Series: kiss your knuckles [2]
Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Trans Male Character, V is trans, but it's very brief, this whole fic is very brief tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 10:49:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19316668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monstermash/pseuds/monstermash
Summary: “Remind me again why these files are so important?”





	dead man's party

**Author's Note:**

> this is p much just a scrapped fic of a very vague idea of what _might_ happen in cyberpunk 2077, although it probably won't be anywhere close to the actual thing, but the fact that V sees Johnny's cyber-ghost gave me ideas about what the bio chip was supposed to do

Johnny hadn’t even been aware that something had gone wrong until he’d been able to visually manifest for V when he woke up in that junkyard.

He hadn’t even been aware that there was something _to_ go wrong, until that moment.

And every day since then he’s been so damn grateful that it did go wrong. He isn’t sure he would’ve been able to deal with the consequences if it hadn’t.

Alt was and still is the most brilliant Netrunner he’s ever met, but sometimes the things she made, the things she’s always been capable of, scares the hell out of him.

\---

“Remind me again why these files are so important?”

Another volley of bullets batters the quickly crumbling support pillar V is using for cover.

“Gotta find out what Arasaka is up to.” Johnny flickers briefly, staying on look out. “Shoot now.”

V pops out from behind the pillar, firing his pistol as he dashes to a sturdier pillar.

“Not to doubt your well-deserved suspicion, but how do you know they’re up to something? Or that these files even prove that?”

“Call it a hunch,” Johnny side steps the question; he knows V doesn’t appreciate being kept in the dark like this, but now isn’t really the time to reveal much, not when V should be focusing on getting out of here alive. 

\---

T-Bug looks unimpressed as V tries to patch himself up on her couch.

Johnny can’t help but pace, impatient to find out what Arasaka is hiding on the data chips they stole.

“I can unlock these, but you’ll owe me big time since I prefer _not_ drawing corpo attention,” T-Bug drawls as she heads over to her interface hardware. “Now quit bleeding on my couch and get out of here. I’ll call you when I have something.”

V doesn’t say anything until they get in the elevator.

“So you gonna let me in on what’s going on, or is this another cyber-ghost secret?”

Johnny knew this was coming, knew it from that moment in the junkyard.

Knowing, however, doesn’t make it any easier to explain.

\---

“I need a fuckin’ drink.”

Johnny sighs. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you.”

“I think _‘hey, the bio chip you used was supposed to burn you out and let me pilot your body like some kind of meat puppet’_ is some pretty vital fucking information, Johnny.”

“It didn’t though.”

“Yeah, because of some one in a million chance fluke! If the programming hadn’t fucked up—”

“I’m glad it did fuck up,” Johnny admits and V finally looks him in the eye. “I’m glad it didn’t take. You think I would’ve been totally fine with doing that to someone? Just burning them up like they’re nothing? Not a fuckin’ chance.”

He reaches out, wrapping a hand around V’s wrist. When he doesn’t pull away, Johnny reels him in tight, letting V bury his face in his shoulder.

“I wouldn’t want to do that to anyone,” Johnny says softly, pressing his lips against the side of V’s head. “I sure as hell don’t wanna do that to you and I won’t. _I won’t.”_

“You better not be keeping anything else important like this from me,” V tells him, voice sounding muffled against Johnny’s shoulder. “I mean it.”

“No more secrets,” he promises and means it.

“I’m still pissed.”

“I know.”

\---
    
    
    Turns out Arasaka is up to something shady. Here’s an attached file summing up what I found and directions to a building of interest. It’s in the Combat Zone, but I know that won’t stop you. Try to not die. —T-Bug

\--- 

Getting into the Combat Zone is easy. Getting to the building T-Bug told V about wasn’t.

A car like V’s, while inconspicuous literally anywhere else in Night City, attracts attention in the Combat Zone. So it takes them a while to get to their destination, getting chased off course here and there by a couple of small gangs and nomad groups.

When V finally turns onto the right street, Johnny can already tell that there’s something strange going on; the whole block is quiet.

Empty.

The whole block is abandoned, and that isn’t something that just happens _naturally_ in the Combat Zone. Not without something to scare off everyone else.

“Well fuck if this isn’t something straight out of a horror movie,” V says, his voice barely above a whisper as they enter the building, which is just as empty as the others around it.

\---

On the top floor of the eerily empty building stands a man who looks to be in his thirties and bears a passing resemblance to Saburo Arasaka; Johnny vaguely recognizes him as Tetsuo Arasaka, current CEO and grandson to the man responsible for Alt being trapped in the Net.

V has his gun drawn and pointed towards Tetsuo’s chest the second the man turns around to face him.

“I was wondering when you’d show up, though I must confess, I was expecting someone a little less… scruffy.” He seems nonplussed at having a gun aimed directly at him. “Although, considering who you’ve got riding along in your personal Net, my expectations shouldn’t have been all that high to begin with.”

An odd sensation drops into Johnny’s chest when Tetsuo looks directly at him. He shouldn’t… he shouldn’t be able to see him, but—

“I’d say it’s nice to see you again, Johnny Silverhand, but that would be a lie.”

He can hear V inhale sharply next to him, but V’s aim remains steady.

“We’ve never met,” Johnny says carefully. Something’s wrong here. Something is very, _very_ wrong.

“Of course we have. I may be in a new body now, but I thought it would’ve been fairly obvious from all of the data you and your… _friend_ here have stolen from me over the past few weeks.”

Dawning realization and horror settles heavily on Johnny and V both as Tetsuo just smiles, tapping at the ports just behind his left ear.

“You actually…” V trails off, looking pale, and the smile on Tetsuo’s face turns almost sadistically pleased.

“Of course. How else would I be able to achieve my goals?” Saburo asks with the body he stole from his grandson.


End file.
